Hearings

Alexandria-and the fire authorities of the city of Alexandria. handled the fire. That may happend again, and also there may be violations of the law, and it is very urgent that the cession of the political jurisdiction should be made. As to the value of the land, that is another thing. The Government ought, of course, to secure for the land whatever it is worth. I am just as much in accord with that view as the Secretary of War and this committee can be.

Mr. JAMES. Have you ever taken the matter up with the War Department, to have your people and the War Department arbitrate the price?

Mr. MOORE. They are unable to do that, Mr. Chairman. This shipbuilding company which is mentioned in this bill has gone out of existence and is involved in litigation and, while I am not informed as to the course of the litigation, I think it is a bankrupt concern and would be unable to buy. I think the time has passed when there is any possibility of purchase by that shipbuilding corporation. I think somebody else will have to become the purchaser. Mr. FROTHINGHAM. Who would bid on it?

Mr. MOORE. I think you would find bidders. Alexandria is progressing, is improving, and I think there would be bidders. What the land would bring I have not the faintest idea-what it would bring under the hammer. Whether a private sale could be negotiated, I do not know. I think it would be quite desirable, though, for this committee to take the course that was indicated in the last Congress and to send a small group of the committee over there to look at the land. I will say that any day, to-morrow if it is convenient, I will place my automobile, which will carry five or six people, at the disposal of the committee; and those gentlemen, if they are designated, could go to Alexandria and look at the land and form some rough idea what it is probably worth. I will say land is appreciating in value there and, of course, no one of us wishes the Government to sacrifice this land.

Mr. JAMES. Will it accomplish what you want if we amend the bill authorizing the War Department to sell this property?

Mr. MOORE. I think so. Would you say to sell it at public auction, or either at public auction or private sale?

Mr. JAMES. There is a difference of $300,000 between the War Department and you. That is quite a difference.

Mr. MOORE. Yes. It will be in the hands of the committee, so far as that question is concerned. As I say, I am not stressing the matter of price at all.

Mr. WAINWRIGHT. Would it be safe to leave that to the discretion of the Secretary of War?

Mr. MOORE. Yes, giving him the right to sell either publicly or privately, I should say, Mr. Wainwright.

Mr. JAMES. Suppose it is worded in the same way as other bills reported out by this committee.

Mr. MOORE. In what way?

Mr. JAMES. Like the bill we reported out the other day, with the amendment Mr. McSwain suggested, and which I think this committee would consider favorably in a bill he has introduced, if it had been presented to us.

There was a hearing on this bill in the last Congress, and this is identical in form with the bill introduced at that time. The draftsman of the bill has set out all of the facts, which are uncontested, in the preamble.

Briefly summarizing the facts, at a point called Battery Cove, in the city of Alexandria, Va., in 1910 or 1911, there was some dredging done which resulted in about 462 acres of new land being made and subsequently, by a decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, it was determined that that land was a part of the District of Columbia and not of the State of Virginia. But the District of Columbia does not exercise any practical jurisdiction on the south side of the Potomac River and it apparently is agreed by everybody who has investigated the subject that the political jurisdiction ought to be ceded to the State of Virginia. One of the purposes of this bill is to make that cession.

Now, there is only one point that seems to be in controversy, and that is as to what this land is worth. It was occupied by the Virginia Shipbuilding Corporation during the war and is now unoccupied and is not cared for by any one except as the city of Alexandria has provided care for it, to prevent fires, trespassing, etc. The District of Columbia does not do anything on that side of the Potomac.

The only point that is in contest is the value of the land. The Secretary of War approves the bill except with respect to the value of the land. There is a recital in the bill that upon payment into the Treasury of the United States of the sum of $70,000, the Secretary of the Treasury be and he is hereby authorized to convey to Joseph L. Crupper, receiver of the Virginia Shipbuilding Corporation, this land I have spoken of which, as I have said, only contains about 462 acres.

There was a hearing before the committee in the last Congress. I suppose there is a report of it here, but it has not been printed. It is hardly necessary, however, to have another hearing, because there is no dispute about the facts except as to the one question and, in the last Congress, it was determined it would be well to have a small subcommittee go over to Alexandria and inspect the land. I hope that that may be done now and be done as soon as possible. If there can be appointed a subcommittee of three or five, or any number that may be thought proper, to go to Alexandria and look at this land, they can arrive at some idea as to what it is worth; or, perhaps, as an alternative to that, the committee might think it proper for the land to be sold at public auction.

That is about all I have to say.

Mr. JAMES. The Secretary of War thinks the land is worth more than $300,000 more than you state.

Mr. MOORE. Whatever it is worth, it ought to be sold at a fair price. I do not say anything contrary to that proposition. I do not know myself what it is worth. I have not seen the land. It is land that is made, as I say, by dredging and it is new soil. It is certainly very important that something should be done in the way of cession of the jurisdiction of the District. Not long ago a fire occurred over there, so I was told last night-I happened to be in

Alexandria-and the fire authorities of the city of Alexandria handled the fire. That may happend again, and also there may be violations of the law, and it is very urgent that the cession of the political jurisdiction should be made. As to the value of the land. that is another thing. The Government ought, of course, to secure for the land whatever it is worth. I am just as much in accord with that view as the Secretary of War and this committee can be.